Niche lenders such as The Mortgage Lender and Foundation Home Loans are trying new affordability boundaries and products designed to help professionals, self-employed people and people with more complex income sources get a mortgage.

The lender Even has been set up as a new business venture by the founders of the online estate agency Nested with an aim to specifically help out first-time buyers by helping them raising a deposit and also by being more generous with income affordability. The new initiative will act in a similar way to the existing help to buy scheme which has been running since 2013 through the government’s homes England division.

Would you keep your car for 40 years? Most people would say no as your car ages and degrades and becomes more and more expensive to keep running. Well, what if your car dealer guaranteed that your car would cost you the same amount every month throughout its 40 years with you? This week Kensington mortgages launched its first long-term fixed rate mortgages, allowing borrowers to freeze their monthly payments for between 11 and 40 years.

Buy to let mortgages have always made up a significant portion of the mortgage market and as rental growth continues to increase, as we reported last week, more and more people are looking into their options with either creating a property portfolio or possibly just renting out their cherished former home that they can’t bear to part with.

Green mortgages are mortgages offered to buyers either as an incentive to buy a more energy-efficient property or to make energy efficiency improvements in their current home. Most green mortgages see lenders offer a more attractive interest rate, or a form of cashback to buyers that you won’t get with standard mortgage products.

Mortgage lending by building societies such as nationwide and Leeds Building Society has risen by 22% in Quarter 3 of 2021 compared to Quarter 3 in 2020. Building societies now reportedly hold a 23% share of the total mortgage market.

Metrobank have announced that they have sold a portfolio of owner-occupied residential mortgages to NatWest as of today – Friday 19th of November. The bold decision is thought to have been made so that Metrobank can invest in other more diverse areas of money lending.

In newly release figures from property website Zoopla, annual rental growth reached the highest level for 13 years at 4.6% in the third quarter. The average cost of renting a home in the UK, excluding London, now stands at £809 per month, 6% more than a year earlier!

A lot of big changes in the mortgage processing world have happened within the last few months but we were all quite taken aback when Halifax announced last week that they would reducing their standard valuation fee across the board. Something that even experienced mortgage professionals did not see coming.

The Rightmove House Price Index has released surprising figures this month that show the average house price coming on to the market has reduced by 0.6% compared to last month’s figures potentially encouraging new buyers over the holidays.

Figures show that the 2021 average house price is now £256,000 and London’s average soars above this at £495,000! These figures can be quite disheartening but don’t fear, there is hope on the horizon.

Official statistics have shown that mortgage arrears across the board have fallen and continue to fall drastically, nearing historical lows according to UK Finance.